First day of school 2011

Natalie is going to FACE Children's Center again this year, for pre-kindergarten.  She is in the Butterfly class this year, and is in the purple Butterfly subclass.  She loves it!  Grant is still going to Maureen's, but he loves that too.  We did sign him up to go to FACE next year though. 

Here is their first day of school series of pictures.  Grant had a big sippy cup of milk, that we had to take away for the pictures.  So most of the pics are of him with his hands in the air, reaching for the cup that we had just taken away.

Tropical Storm Irene

This Florida girl was just thrilled that we got a tropical storm this far north!  It was a hurricane at landfall, I think, but by the time it got up here to eastern Mass, it was a tropical storm.

This was the day before, courtesy the NHC.  Todd and I actually did some preparation for this because I had been through Hurricane Opal in 1995, which wasn't so awful of a storm by the time it reached Auburn, Alabama, but I still didn't have power for a whole week.  And for a single, college-age girl, wasn't the worst thing ever, but as a mom of two little ones, I was freaked out by the possibility of not having power for an extended period of time.  We had to elevate some of our appliances in the basement (the freezer, and the dehumidifier), and Todd had to go put out plastic on the ground under the only spot around the house that has a gutter... which hadn't been cleaned in years.  But that stopped the small flood that had started in our field stone basement.  :-)

During the storm.  Sorry about the bounce of the flash off of the window.

After the storm I went out and took some pictures.  We had a lot of branches/limbs/leaves down in the driveway.

Same with the backyard.  Much larger branches were down back there toward the far end of the property, out by the fence.

Part of our fence came down, I think due to a branch coming down on it.  Not sure though.

Even the tomato plants were not immune to Irene's "fierce" winds.  In the end, we never really lost power.  We lost it for about an hour in the middle of the night, AFTER the storm was long gone.  Go figure! 

Robb Wolf seminar, aka: Todd's man crush

Todd got to meet (or... um.... meat) his paleo idol, Robb Wolf at an all-day seminar in Boston in August.  I allowed Todd to spend his own money as a birthday present, albeit a little late, to see Robb in one of his last ever live speaking events.

Seriously, he looks deliriously happy in this picture! 

Todd said about this picture:  "We're like brothers!"  Or... since Todd is about a foot taller than Robb, maybe not!  If you ever want to know more about eating Paleo (meat, veggies, eggs, seeds/nuts, fruit), you should check out Robb's website www.robbwolf.com He is a paleo GURU, with great podcasts, blogposts, testimonials, etc. 

Some big shoes to fill

If Grant is half the man his daddy is someday, I will be just thrilled.  He has some really big shoes to fill!  Hopefully he'll be big enough to fill them!

Uncle Steve and the fam visit Massachusetts

Unfortunately last year at Christmas, a big snowstorm cancelled Uncle Steve, Aunt Jeanne, Megan, Hannah, and Ryan's visit from Maryland.  So we haven't seen them in a WHOLE year!  So we were all really excited to see them in August...

First, since there are just TOO many Bailey cousins now, and they're mostly all ... well, like GoGo and Ryan, massively tall....  we had to move to a more spacious location for the group photo.  I took about 10 pictures and this was the best one, ha ha.  Yes, Natalie is in her pajamas.  I know 20 years from now I'm going to be mad about that. 

Then we went in the backyard and snapped a few pics of Bean with his beautiful granddaughters.  Natalie and Madison are giving some sass. 

Next up was Grammi and her baby boys.  Ryan is a sophomore in high school, if you can believe that.  He's almost Todd's height (6'4").  GoGo is starting at Mass Maritime Academy and playing football there this fall.  Seth is my big goofball Godson, and one of Natalie's favorite people in the world.  Please note:  This is the first time EVER that Ryan has held a baby. 

We like to get outdoors when we're down at Grammi and Bean's house.  Neither kid wanted to ride the trike, and I didn't want to carry it, so I just hopped on here.

We also like to go to the pond.  Or rather, Daddy and Natalie like to go to the pond.  It's too cold for Mommy and Grant doesn't like sand or cold water.  He gets that from me.  I just have to say here... look at my nearly-40-year-old husband's hot bod!  CrossFit rocks.

Big Boy was having a blast with Daddy and Uncle Steve.  His face cracks me up in this picture.  I think Uncle Steve thought he might be getting some cake here...

Natalie also is VERY into makeup and nails these days.  She is such a girlie girl, or at least more so than I was at that age.  I love it!  Here, cousin Megan did her nails and I did some of her makeup, which you can see in the picture below.

I'm pretty sure I can never let her out of the house when she is a teenager.  I absolutely love this picture of us. 

Random Summer Photos

This has been a busy summer!  Here is a summary in 8 pictures of some of the highlights...

We've done a little swimming in the kiddie pool (yes, Mommy too).  It hasn't been too awful hot this summer, but we've been able to get out a few times.  Grant, NOT a big fan of the pool, or water in general. I think he likes it when the water is warm, because he doesn't have any issues in the tub.  But a cold pool, not such a fan!

We've been to the gazebo a few times, and this year, Grant runs around more than Natalie!

We ate pasta at TGI Friday's and smashed it all over our face.

This is what happened after Daddy told her to stop smashing pasta on her face.

We've had MORE fun with the Wilmington crew!  Second generation friends Caroline, Natalie, and Annabel, being SO silly, as usual!

We've attended some Red Sox games (Orioles, Cleveland).  I think I'm 2-1 this season.  They just lost to Cleveland last night (August 1) when we saw them.  This is Todd at the Sox-O's game on July 10th.

We went to Org Day at Todd's work again!  We went last year but last year it was in June.  This year, it was on a nice warm day in July.  Natalie got her face painted- ready for battle in a pink tutu skirt! 

The big guy (ahem, Grant) didn't make it out of the parking lot.  He was out COLD.  Must have been a good time!  I think he liked the playground at Daddy's work the best!

It's been a good summer and we've had a lot of fun! 

Seng and Sopheap's wedding

I went to my first ever Cambodian wedding reception in July.  It was WAAAY fun.  Seng has been a co-worker of mine (albeit now in a different office since I'm in Boston and she's in Fairfax, where I used to work) for almost 8 years.  Girl knows her stuff too, wicked smaht lady!  AND... she knows how to throw a fun reception!

All of my favorite Dewb peeps were there.  In fact, over 300 people were at this reception!  I went down by myself, because we have too many things planned this year to try to get another one of our family members to watch our kids for a whole weekend.  I got to stay with one of my favorite couples- Katie and Jeff.  We had hit up a local winery in the afternoon prior to the wedding reception.  PLUS... it's Cambodian tradition to have a bottle of Hennessy for each table (in addition to the unlimited Heineken!).  Well, the following pictures are what you get when one table challenges another to see who will finish the bottle of Hennessy first...

Above:  Me and Brett Hurm, my birthday twin.  I seriously have no idea what is going on here.  But my arms look good, don't they?

 I have no words.

This is the bride...  Seng flanked by Robyn and Greg.

Seng is naturally pretty anyway, but she looked like a porcelain doll... and her hubby wasn't too shabby either!

This was flat out troublesome.

Brett helped lead our table to victory in the Hennessy Challenge.  We're actually considering a rematch sometime later this year or next.

Cambodian tradition is to present each of the tables with gifts from the bride and groom.  We got cool scarves, which Katie and Jeff showed off on the metro ride back to Vienna.  Jeff snazzed his up with a little head gear. 

Congrats to Seng and Sopheap!!!

4th of July

Hmm... a little behind here. 

We had another fun filled day in Natick enjoying the annual Kiwanis pancake breakfast and the Natick 4th of July parade!  Just like Natalie in 2009, Grant ate his weight in pancakes.  We had to steal a plate full of them because he wasn't finished when the parade was starting, so you can see in the picture below, he has his mouth full of pancake!  We scored some good seats along East Central too, right on the street.

I'm beginning to wonder if there will ever be a photo of Grant without his sippy cup of milk. 

Natalie waving to Sparky, the Wayland Fire Department Fire Dog.  And look, he's waving back at her!

Oh wait!  THERE'S a picture of Grant without his cup!  He clearly has no interest in being photographed of course, so Natalie is yanking him back in the picture.  Get back here little brother!

Oh well, if Grant won't participate, then we'll just get a cute one of Natalie, Pink Bear, and Daddy. 

Natalie once again, was very into the parade this year.  I was actually a little surprised that Grant sat still for a good portion of the beginning of the parade (perhaps it was the milk and the pancakes), but Natalie really enjoyed the whole thing.  She danced to the bands, hugged Tigger, and was wowed by the dancers, gymnasts, and jugglers!

Unfortunately, this might be the last year of the Natick 4th of July parade (yes, ever).  They are having trouble finding someone to organize/run the parade.  We hope that they find someone soon because we really have a great time every year! 

Trip to the Beach

Don't get excited... we just went to the local beach in Natick on Dug Pond.  It's actually a really nice little beach, with a concession stand, lifeguards and plenty of space. 

Grant didn't care for the sand. He kept asking for his shoes! "Shoes! Shoes!" He didn't like walking in the sand. He wasn't so sure about the water either but he eventually got used to it.  He also had his trucks and he found a big stick!  Look at those dimples!!!!

Natalie was like a little fish!  She can't swim yet but the water was shallow enough that she could just splash and play without mommy or daddy being super close by.  She just had a blast.  She had a great time with daddy building sand castles and a big giant puddle/lake!  (See above!)

Right before we left, we had to get the kids cleaned of all of the sand they had accumulated.  Daddy wanted Grant to get in the water, despite his objections.  Once he was in he was fine, and Daddy was bouncing him around.  Then of course, Natalie wanted to be a part of it.  The kids did really great and we had such a fun time!  We can't wait to go back, but the rest of our summer has been so busy and it got cooler (yes, I'm not taking my kids to the beach when it's only 80 degrees!  I'm such a Floridian!)

Trip into Boston

We took the kids on the train into Boston for the day a few weeks ago.  We like to do this about once a summer, and we make a big deal out of it, and the kids were crazy for it!  First we went across the street to Station 5 Grill for some breakfast.  We were there when they opened at 7 am, ha ha.  Little buddy ate some pancakes with his daddy.

Next up, we went to West Natick station to pick up an 8:20 train to Boston.  They thought this was SO cool.  Grant loves anything with wheels, and probably the fact that it was going fast.  Natalie is crazy about trains, so it was probably the highlight of the day!

Next we walked around the Garden for a little bit, and then took the Blue Line over to Aquarium so we could get on the commuter boat that takes you from Long Wharf over to Charlestown.  It's only about 10 minutes long, it comes every half hour, and it only costs $1.70!  You really can't beat it.  We rode up front so Natalie could see out. 

Once we got over to Charlestown, we didn't have enough time to go over and see Old Ironsides, so we just walked around the wharf area.  We found this giant anchor and attempted to take a family photo on it.  Three out of four Bailey family members participated!

After we caught the boat back to Long Wharf, we grabbed a quick pizza before heading back to Back Bay so we could catch our train back home.  We were home before 1:30, and Todd said, "It's only 1:30 and I feel like we've done a full day of activities already!"  It was a  good, fun family outing!